Wondering what went right this week in the conservation world? We’ve got you covered with our Conservation Optimism Round-Up! We are collating stories of optimism from around the globe so that you never miss your dose of weekly motivation.

1. Southern Maryland Opens First Chesapeake Bay Wildlife Refuge in Over 25 Years

“After a close to 15-year push by conservationists, a swath of southern Maryland is getting protections as a national wildlife refuge, federal officials announced Friday, marking the first time an area of the Chesapeake Bay watershed has received that status in more than 25 years.”

2. Major milestone for long-running project on pine martens

“Kenny Kortland, wildlife ecologist at FLS, said: “Reaching the milestone of translocating 100 pine martens in a decade is a fantastic example of what can be achieved through dedicated partnership and science-led conservation.”

3. New conservation project launched to protect birds of prey

“Owlthorpe Fields Conservation Group wants to monitor and help boost the population of various raptor species in the Sheffield area – including buzzards, kestrels, and owls.”

4. Suffolk Coast Embarks on New Rewilding Project

“Martlesham Wilds covers 289 acres next to the Deben Estuary in Suffolk. Suffolk Wildlife Trust bought it in late 2023 following a fundraising campaign and it is rewilding the area. The new reserve’s warden, Jessica Ratcliff, said they have used Herdwick sheep and Belted Galloway cattle on the grazing marsh to improve the floristic diversity and create habitat suitable for the wading birds and wildfowl.”

5. African Communities Leading the Charge in Wildlife Conservation

“Today, in hundreds of community-run “conservancies” being established across tens of millions of acres of Africa, herders and their cattle are sharing the unfenced land with elephants, giraffes, wildebeest, and buffalo. Armed only with mobile phones, the herders keep their livestock safe while protecting wildlife.”

6. Endangered Polynesian storm petrels return to Pacific island

“For the first time in more than 100 years, endangered Polynesian storm petrels (Nesofregetta fuliginosa) have returned to a far-flung island in French Polynesia. These rare birds began exploring Kamaka Island just three weeks after conservationists set up special equipment to attract them back, according to Coral Wolf, conservation science program manager at Island Conservation, the U.S.-based NGO overseeing the project.”

7. Building resilience through green microgrids

“A microgrid is a small-scale energy system that can operate either independently or as part of the larger electric grid. Microgrids consist of generation devices along with management systems that control voltage and distribution of power. Their technology allows for cleaner, more efficient and more reliable power to buildings and communities in the event of greater grid failures. And with climate change increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters, such resilience is increasingly important.”

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